Keywords 101

One important aspect of SEO is keyword rankings. Our team at EMSC incorporates a variety of targeted keywords into your website content, including blogs, to help potential customers find you via Google and other search engines.

For example, if you just moved to Chicago and you are looking for a new dentist, you may search “dentist Lincoln Park” if you are a Lincoln Park resident. From there, Google crawls the web to pull up a variety of search results that have the keyword incorporated into the content. It is our goal at EMSC to help your business land on this first page of results, as these are the businesses that receive the highest volume of traffic.

Q: How are keywords established?
A: Before you start your program with us, your account manager will be in touch to establish a list of geographies that you want to target. This typically consists of the city in which your business is located in addition to surrounding areas. In addition to using the geographies that you want to target, we research keywords for search volume to ensure the keywords are heavily searched and will ultimately result in leads. Once we have compiled a list, we send it to you (the client) for final approval. From there, our writers will begin using keywords in your content.

Q: How do you decide which keyword to use in each month’s content?
A: We use metrics to track how keywords are moving and ultimately pick keywords that aren’t ranking as high with the hopes of increasing their ranking. More importantly, we determine keywords that are important to help generate new business for each client, seamlessly integrating them into the website.

Q: How many different keywords are used for each piece of content?
A: It’s ideal to stick to one keyword or topic per blog or content page so that the content reads naturally. Using multiple keywords throughout one piece of content will likely be very obvious to the reader and could turn them away from your site altogether. We always try to make the keyword or keyword phrase sound as natural as possible.

Q: How long does it take for keywords to start moving?
A: We know that you want improvements right away, but it’s important that you stay patient throughout this process. It can take a few months to start seeing movement and positive results.

Q: What if there is a geography in a keyword, but we don’t have an actual location there?
A: It’s important to target a variety of geographies throughout website content. In cases like this, we can tweak the copy to say phrases such as “dentist near Lincoln Park” or “dentist serving Lincoln Park and surrounding areas.” Specific geographies will help attract more customers as opposed to more general keywords like an entire state or city; many people are already ranking well in these areas and it can be tough to break through that barrier. To put it simply, a diverse keyword list is a strong keyword list.

Q: Is my keyword list set in stone?
A: Absolutely not! We encourage all of our clients to update and expand upon their keyword list to improve rankings and start attracting new customers. Keyword research is not a one-and-done process, rather, it is ongoing and should be re-evaluated occasionally. For example, if you offer a new service or are trying to target a new geography, updating your keyword list is a great idea.

Do you have more questions regarding your program’s keyword list? Reach out to your account manager with any questions or concerns regarding keywords!

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